The Black Blooded Games
by PrincessDaydream77
Summary: What happens when Narcissa Black is the name pulled from the bowl in District Twelve and her sister, Bellatrix takes her place, along with a mysterious boy named Rodolphus Lestrange?
1. Comforting Cissy

The Black Blooded Games

Summary: What happens when Narcissa Black is the name pulled from the bowl in Hogwarts School and her sister, Bellatrix takes her place, along with a mysterious boy named Rodolphus Lestrange?

Disclaimer: Only the idea is mine. Harry Potter belongs to JK Rowling and The Hunger Games belongs to Suzanne Collins.

Chapter One

The Reaping. It was the only thing in the whole of the world that was feared by the seventeen-year-old girl sat in a treetop in the forests of District 12. She was an expert hunteress and with her best friend, a certain Tom Riddle Jr, Bellatrix Druella Black had almost forgotten that the day itself would dawn upon them with the sunrise.

After her long conversation with Tom on the subject, shooting his idea of running away down in flames, Bellatrix made her way back to the small house that she shared with both her family and her aunt's family, her full game bag slung securely over her left shoulder. She pushed open the creaking wooden door to their tiny home, which had only four small rooms for the nine people that lived there. One room was their communal room, where they ate, cooked and sat together, while the other three were bedrooms, the two smallest belonging to the two sets of parents and the slightly larger one belonging to all five children. Slinging her game bag at the foot of the table, she made her way to the childrens' bedroom, but was disappointed to find that there were only three people in the room. Two of them were Bellatrix's cousins, sixteen-year-old Regulus Arcturus and fifteen-year-old Sirius Orion, who was attempting to get his cousin of the same age, Andromeda Elladora, to join their game of Exploding Snap.

"Meda?" asked Bellatrix, tapping the elder of her sisters on the shoulder, who withdrew her nose from the Holyhead Harpies annual she was reading and turned to face her.

"Yes?"

"Have you seen Cissa? I can't find her."

"I think she said something about going down to the river. I haven't seen her since so she must have gone."

"Okay, thanks, Med. Sirius, get your hands out of my Chocolate Frog cards."

"I was only looking!"

"Yeah, you were only looking when my Merlin card went walkabout." snapped back Bellatrix, slamming her way out of the room and abandoning the house, preparing for the hike up the hill which led to the river. The view was clear on an autumn night like this and sure enough, Bellatrix was a good twenty feet away when she caught sight of a stretch of pale blue cloth and a waterfall of shimmering blonde waves, bent and shaking over by the side of the river.

"Ciss?" whispered Bellatrix, slowly making her way to the figure and putting a comforting arm around her shoulders. The figure jumped and let out a small scream, but it was cut off by the sobs that were violently racking her body. Feeling this, Bellatrix sat down on the ground and pulled the shaking blonde onto her lap, wrapping her arms tightly around her and kissing the top of her head in an attempt to calm her.

"Oh, Ciss. What's the matter, darling? Why are you crying?"

"I'm going to die." she whispered solemnly, crying harder.

"Ciss, what are you talking about? Of course you aren't, sweetie."

"I am. I can feel it. It's going to be me." she cried, causing Bellatrix to let out a deep sigh of realisation.

"The Reaping. Ciss, it won't be you, I promise. Your name's only in the bowl once, there's thousands of names. There is no chance that it'll be you. None."

"There's always a chance, Bella. What'll happen if it is?"

"Ciss, the chance is so small that it's not even worth thinking about. There's more chance of one of the four of us being Reaped."

"Why? How many times have your names been entered, Bella?"

"Well, Meda and Sirius have been in six times each, Regulus has been in 24 and I've been in...35."

"What?!"

"Well, it won't be you and even if it is, which it won't be, I will never let them take you away from us. I promise."

"Really?"

"Yes. I promise."

Bellatrix pulled the two of them to their feet, her arms still wrapped around her little sister and they began to walk towards their house.

Narcissa slept all through the night, feeling safe with the presence of her elder sister's arms wrapped tightly around her, the security entering into her subconcious and meaning that she had a dream for the first time since Bellatrix's first Reaping.

The gesture gave comfort to the dark-haired girl as well, making her believe that while she may not be safe, the Ministry couldn't harm her little Cissa.

She was wrong.

A/N: What d'you think? Please review!


	2. Reaping Day Woes

Chapter Two

A/N: Thanks to my amazing reviewers, FullMoonPhoenixShadow and of course, my best friend, headinclouds123. You make me so happy!

When she awoke, Bellatrix still had her arms wrapped around her sleeping sister, who's blonde curls were still clinging to her face from tears she had shed in her sleep. The elder leant up on her right arm, brushing the delicate golden curls away and kissing the top of her head repeatedly.

Then the door eased open slightly and Druella Black poked her head around it. She looked around at the five seperate beds scattered along the walls of the room. In her view, the only person awake was Bellatrix, but the seventeen-year-old could see that Regulus was only pretending to sleep. Druella looked over at Bellatrix, smiling sadly as she could sight of her youngest daughter wrapped in her eldest's arms. She looked over and mouthed something like 'forty-five minutes' at her. Bellatrix nodded and smiled at her mother as she exited the room. She then swung her legs out of bed and walked over to her cousin's bed.

"Reg?"

"Yeah?"

"The Reaping's in forty-five minutes, we've got to get up now."

"Bella? Do you think it'll be her? Cissa, I mean, d'you think it'll be her?"

"No! It couldn't be, it's practically impossible. No. I think it'll be Parkinson or someone. She's in fifty-eight."

"Yeah. I suppose Malfoy has a good chance as well."

"He's only in five, he's never had to take Tesserae in his life. Lestrange is in thirty-six. It just feels weird." she said suddenly. Regulus looked up at her in confusion.

"What does?" Bellatrix took a deep breath and began to speak so fast that Regulus had trouble picking up all that she was saying.

"Well, we're both sitting her together, discussing what the odds are on people we've been in school with for half a decade being sent into a competition where the Reaping is less a selection process than a death sentence. Ciss, how long have you been awake?" She had had her back to her younger sister all this time, but turned around at that point to face the shaking blonde.

"Ever since Mummy came in. You woke me up properly when you went over to Reg."

Bellatrix and Regulus both got up at that point, Bellatrix to wake the fifteen-year-olds and Regulus to hug his youngest cousin, who had started crying again as she realised what the day ahead would bring.

Thirty-five minutes later, the five children were assembled in the front room of their tiny house. The girls' father, Cygnus and the boys' father, Orion had been working down at the mines since the early hours of the morning, the only job which wasn't postponed for the Reaping ceremony and so couldn't come to say goodbye to their children should the necessity arise. Walburga had gone up to the Hob as well, to see what she could trade for a large array of magical plants that Narcissa and Andromeda had gathered while Tom and Bellatrix worked together on the game hunt, meaning that Druella was the only parent of the five remaining to say goodbye to them.

The children had all been specially dressed for the occasion, as per the Capitol's instructions. In truth, most citizens of District 12 found it quite appalling that the children were made to dress as if it was a celebratory occasion, when it was one of the most sombre occasions that could possibly have occured in the entire of the Wizarding World. Druella's saddened nod of approval was enough to tell the group that they all met her satisfactory standards. They may have no money, but Druella wasn't about to let that stop her.

The boys had been forced into well-pressed trousers and crisp light blue shirts, their hair combed down for the occasion. Bellatrix had managed to tame her curls into a relatively neat ponytail, gathering at the shoulders and causing a stark contrast to her leaf green ruffled dress. Andromeda had done practically, her wild brown waves reaching the top of her ribcage and clashing tastefully with her own ruffled dress, which was the exact same shade of blue as her cousins' shirts. But Narcissa looked stunning. She was wearing a knee-length bolt of ruffled baby pink chiffon, which Bellatrix recognised as an altered and tightened version of her own first Reaping dress, which she couldn't help but notice suited her sister much better. Bellatrix's untameable curls and tomboyish attitude made it clear that pink was not her best suited colour, but with her shimmering golden hair tied up in a high ponytail which had been wrapped around her bobble five times, yet somehow still reaching down the small of her back, the little flower did not look dissimilar to a fairytale princess.

Finally, the knock on the door came and the five children were forced to make their way to the Central Square. They walked in silence to the Square, each retaining a certain amount of their composure, bar a few sniffles and silent tears. This stony silence continued until they were shepherded into the ranks of children waiting for their blood sample to be taken. The three middle children ploughed on ahead fearlessly, but Narcissa hung back, tears cascading down her pale, heart-shaped face, attracting the attention of Bellatrix, who had finally located Tom within the crowds of thousands.

"Ciss, it's only a tiny drop of blood. It doesn't hurt much, you'll barely feel it. Come on, then we can see if we can find Meda."

"Bella, it's not that, it's just...well, this might be the last time I ever see any of you."

"Oh, Ciss." sighed Bellatrix, wrapping her little sister in her arms and kissing her golden waves, which were steadily browning due to the amount of tears that were brimming and spilling over from her sapphire eyes.

"Come on, baby, we have to go. Don't worry, you'll be alright. Come on." Narcissa obeyed quite quickly, wiping her tears and walking towards the Ministry officials where the children were gathered. After submitting her blood sample and giving Bellatrix one last hug, she went to join the ranks of twelve-year-olds at the front of the courtyard. A few moments later, a woman appeared on the Ministry podium above the children.

"Hello children and happy Hunger Games." smiled a woman dressed all in pink with a fluffy bow drawing attention to her greying brunette hair.

"Hello." The sound came as a collective murmer from the crowd.

"Well, the Reaping has come around again. As I am sure most of you know, my name is Jane Marie Umbridge and I shall be performing the Reaping ceremony today, as always. Now, before we begin, a message from the Ministry."

Bellatrix could barely concentrate on the projection as she was too busy staring at her little sister, who seemed to have her eyes glued to the screen as it explained how the Four Founders had split, taking three districts apiece, before being brought down by the Ministry. The Hunger Games were a reminder of this, as Bellatrix knew from previous experience.

Finally, the projection faded and Jane placed her hand into the first bowl, as prompted by the Minister.

"Right, our male tribute from District Twelve will be...Rodolphus Lestrange."

The crowd parted to let through a seventeen-year-old boy with dark hair and a dark stubble on his face. He didn't really look that surprised at being Reaped, sharing only a brief glance with a younger man that looked to be his brother before practically bounding up to the podium. Jane congratulated him, then reached into the other bowl and pulled out a name. She opened it and read it out in a clear voice, and there was great relief for a moment when the girl realised that she hadn't read Bellatrix Druella Black. But that relief disappeared almost as soon as it arrived when she realised what the name was. And it was worse, a lot worse.

Narcissa Cassiopeia Black.

A/N: Sorry for the late update. Writer's block and other stories. Please review!


	3. The Place Where I Love You

Chapter Three

A/N: Thanks to my reviewers, FullMoonPhoenixShadow, Stardust555, toast7475 and headinclouds123.

Time had stopped. Bellatrix could hardly breathe. Even though Regulus had voiced the idea to her earlier that very morning, she had never thought that it would even be a possibility, let alone actually happen. It was like a bad dream, one that she had had many a time before the day, only this time she knew she wasn't going to wake up.

She looked over to Narcissa, who looked like she was barely breathing in shock. She was shaking her head slightly, tears beginning to streak down her face.

"Come on up, dear." Jane's voice rang through the courtyard, its cheeriness almost sickening. Narcissa seemed to snap into action, as if she had only just heard the woman, and began to take tentative steps towards the podium, her hands visibly shaking as she walked. Bellatrix heard a loud sob come from behind her and just about managed to tear her eyes away from her baby sister to see her mother half-collapsed behind the ropes restraining the onlookers, her friend, Pricilla, supporting her a little.

Bellatrix turned her face back to Narcissa, who was sobbing as she reached the steps to the podium. Then something snapped inside the elder of the two. An idea formed in her head and, though it would mean a sacrifice of her own life, it was worth it to know that her Cissy would be safe. Bellatrix dived through the crowds of girls, pushing her way through to the aisle just as Narcissa was about to place her foot on the first step.

"I VOLUNTEER!" she screamed, running forward so she was in the middle of the aisle. Everyone stopped and stared at her, their mouths wide open in shock, their expressions clearly showing that they thought she was mad.

"I volunteer as Tribute!" she cried. Narcissa was the only one who moved, hurtling down the aisle towards her sister and being swept up in her arms. Suddenly, she was pulled away as the Ministry officials began to bundle Bellatrix towards the Town Hall.

"NO!" screamed Narcissa, trying to run towards Bellatrix, but being held back by Sirius. "NO! BELLA, NO!"

"Cissy, I love you!" she cried, just as the doors were closed behind her. She was bundled into a room, then left to her own devices. She walked absentmindedly to the window and gazed out at the bleakness of District Twelve. It was the poorest District of the country and had belonged, in the olden days, to Salazar Slytherin, whose split from the founders led Districts Ten, Eleven and Twelve to rack and ruin.

Suddenly, the door burst open and Peacekeepers threw a single girl through to her.

"You have five minutes." instructed the Peacekeeper in a monotone. They left and the girl hurled herself at Bellatrix, burying her face in her stomach and sobbing profusely into her dress. Upon overcoming her shock, Bellatrix wrapped her arms around her and brought the pair of them to the floor, stroking the blonde curls and trying to stop her own tears from escaping her eyelids.

"Oh, Cissy, it's alright. It's not you, it's not you. You're not going into the Games, it's alright. Oh, I'm so sorry." soothed Bellatrix, trying to calm her sobbing sister.

"Try to win. I know you can win, you're strong and you never give up. So don't give up now."

"It's alright. And maybe I can win, I'm not known for giving up."

"Promise me that you'll come home after the Games. Promise you'll come back."

"Cissy, you know that I can't promise you that. I can promise that I'll try my best to win and I won't give up, but I can't promise to come back. I'm sorry."

"Well, if you can't promise, then can you sing me my special song?"

"Alright."

Bellatrix pulled Narcissa into her lap, wrapping one arm around her waist and the other stroking her wavy hair, which had fallen from it's confines, creating a shimmering blonde curtain falling down her back.

"_Deep in the meadow,  
Under the willow,  
A bed of grass,  
A soft green pillow,  
Lay down your head,  
And close your eyes,  
And when they open,  
The sun will rise._

_Here it's safe,  
And here it's warm,  
And here the daisies guard you from every harm,  
And here your dreams are sweet,  
And tomorrow brings them true,  
Here is the place where I love you._

_Deep in the meadow,  
Hidden far away,  
A cloak of leaves,  
A moonbeam ray,  
Forget your woes,  
And let your troubles lay,  
And when again it's morning,  
They'll wash away._

_Here it's safe,  
And here it's warm,  
And here the daisies guard you from every harm,  
And here your dreams are sweet,  
And tomorrow brings them true,  
Here is the place where I love you,  
Here is the place where I love you._"

Then the doors burst open and Narcissa was violently ripped, kicking and screaming, from her elder sister's arms.

"Don't hurt her! Cissy! Cissy, I promise!" she screamed, collapsing to the floor as soon as the doors were closed behind her flailing sister. She waited for Tom to turn up, but he didn't. She suspected that only one visitor had been allowed and Tom had given the position to her sister, so that she would at least have a chance at seeing her sister one last time.

So, it was official. Bellatrix was a Tribute in the Hunger Games.

A/N: Sorry about the lack of updates, I'm back to school now. My updates will probably be on Sundays. I may not always update, but I'll try. Please review!


	4. Hatred Awakens

Chapter Four

A/N: Thanks to my brilliant reviewers, FullMoonPhoenixShadow, Xoria, Bellatrix567 and Guest.

The train was zooming through the fields of District Eleven, a slightly better off district also bearing Salazar Slytherin's colours. Bellatrix tried her hardest not to concentrate on Umbridge, focusing instead on the blur of trees and fields, people appearing for a second before they were gone. She was especially trying to ignore her fellow Tribute, Rodolphus Lestrange, particularly because he was hanging on the Ministry worker's every word.

"Bellatrix?" asked the woman, breaking her speech to look at the dark-haired girl. Even though she couldn't see her, Bellatrix could feel her gaze digging into the back of her skull. Finally, she could bear it no longer and turned. She walked hesitantly to the chaise opposite Umbridge, sitting as far away from Rodolphus as she could.

"Now, as I was saying, you will absolutely love the experience at the Atrium, it is a truly breathtaking city and you cannot fail to be amazed." continued the woman, averting her gaze from the sulking young girl. "You should just ask my daughter, Dolores. She loves it around here, it is a real inspiration for her. I hope it shall be for you as well."

Rodolphus made a small grunting noise to show his agreement, while Bellatrix remained as silent as she had since she boarded the train. All that was dominating her mind, aside from her mutual hatred of the Ministry, Rodolphus Lestrange and the entire Umbridge family, was the look on her sister's face as she was pulled away screaming by the Peacekeepers. The thought alone was enough to make Bellatrix want to kill anyone in sight.

A small gasp escaped the girl's lips, probably inaudible to anyone but herself. She had never thought anything like that before, had never had the desire to kill. She had to admit, she had once dreamed that one day she would be able to get her own wand from the Ministry and could curse all the people that had harmed her and her family. Her grandparents, who had cut off her mother for marrying her father, the boy that had broken into the house and stolen things from Andromeda, Regulus and Sirius, and of course, the boys who had attacked Narcissa and badly hurt her. She had wanted to make them suffer, of course, but never to take their lives from them.

The train slowed to a halt. They had reached the Atrium and she had been so engrossed in her own feelings and thoughts that she hadn't even noticed how much time had passed. The sky was a lot darker than it had been before, the stars were just beginning to shine through the midnight darkness of the cloudless sky. However, their lights were dimmed in the glow from the Ministry City, bathing the blackness in a greenish glow.

The three dismounted the train, slowly making their way through the twisting streets leading up to the Atrium, several troops of Peacekeepers patrolling past them as they walked. The thoughts of Narcissa screaming as the two of them were parted earlier that day returned to the front of her mind, bringing her anger bubbling over once more, to the point that it had been before.

That feeling had just awakened inside the seventeen-year-old once more and, to be perfectly honest, it scared her a little to know that she was capable of feeling those things. Because if she was, she may be just able to accomplish them.

A/N: I know that it's short, but I wanted to kind of end it at that point, because it's quite an important place to do so. Also, I'll be updating various stories on a daily basis instead of just Sundays, as it is half-term in Wales.


	5. Almost, But Not Quite

Chapter Five

A/N: Thanks, as always, to FullMoonPhoenixShadow for reviewing. You keep me writing.

The marvels of District Twelve's living quarters didn't cease for a long while after Bellatrix and Rodolphus arrived. It didn't really seem to phase Jane Umbridge, who had likely lived in luxury for her entire life, but for the Tributes, it was amazing.

The main living area of the Penthouse was coloured with green and silver, the walls having close to a leafy effect, which comforted Bellatrix, as most of her days back home were spent hunting in the forest with Tom. A large silver television hung across it, its screen as black as the sky outside. Bellatrix's family, of course, did not own a television, as her family could not afford such a luxury, they could barely afford the basics to survive, but the Black daughter had seen such technology in the courtyard where the Reaping had taken place. The furniture was a deep rosewood and had silver swirls carved within it, a pattern that fascinated the woman, the way the wood went smoothly up and down like a calm ocean wave.

The dining table was made of the same wood, with the same patterns running through it, yet Bellatrix found it just as intriguing every time her fingers swept over the dips. Every chair in the large room was soft to sit in and the cushions were plump and the covers well-kept.

The group dispersed, Jane returning to her oh-so-saintly daughter and the two Tributes to their respective bedrooms. Rodolphus walked quickly to his own, omitting a gasp of amazement still audible to Bellatrix, who had hung back in the dining area, running her fingers over the grooves in the wood over and over again.

Finally, Bellatrix allowed her fatigue to take over her curiosity and made her way to the rosewood door seperating her bedroom from the main areas. Of course, at this point, Bellatrix had thought that the main area was only so showy because the citizens of the Ministry that formed the District Twelve team would have to use the facilities as well and therefore, she thought that the Tributes rooms would be rather simple, having only the bare necessities. She was wrong.

The walls retained the same pattern as those of the rest of the Penthouse, the furniture the same patterns, but Bellatrix still found it breathtakingly beautiful. But the most beautiful came when the dark-haired woman pulled back the emerald curtains, revealing a window almost the length and height of the whole right wall. Though she'd never admit it, Bellatrix found the view rather beautiful, for a moment, almost worth coming to the Atrium for. Almost, but not quite. The lights were twinkling all over the city, shining through the pitch darkness and illuminating the deserted streets, bringing a certain amount of warmth to the place.

In her amazement, however, Bellatrix lost her balance and fell right backwards. She automatically put her hands out behind her in an attempt to stop herself, but instead of the pain she expected to feel from landing on the wooden floor, she fell down onto a soft and downy surface. Confusion marred her features for a moment before she realised that she had fallen into the bed.

The brunette could hardly believe her own senses as she relaxed back into the mattress. It felt as though she had fallen back into a huge mass of cotton wool, she felt as if she were floating on air. Obviously, while at home, Bellatrix had always considered herself lucky. Due to her mother's tiny inheritence from her own parents, who had disapproved completely of her marriage into the Black family, the children, although having to all share a bedroom, did not ever have to share a bed. The mattresses may have been a little uncomfortable and solid, but they were there and that made the children lucky. These, however, were brilliantly soft and the complete opposite of home.

Suddenly, a wave of homesickness passed over Bellatrix. Dozens of thoughts rushed into her head all at once, each involving a different member of her family and what had happened to them. Whether they were alright, whether they were hurt... whether they were even still alive.

'_No!_' Bellatrix's mind cried. Her mind's eye had drifted in that direction one time too many for Bellatrix to handle. '_It couldn't possibly be true, so don't make it so._'

Gathering her thoughts, Bellatrix relaxed into the soft down of the duvet, trying to stop a crystal tears from leaking across her pale cheek. '_Don't make things worse than they already are. Everyone will be alright, Mother, Father, Meda, Cissy, Sirius, Reg. They'll all be fine._'

The young woman had been given the lowdown on her schedule for the next few days by an overexcited Jane. Tomorrow would be the Tributes parade, then the next four days would be taken up with training, presentations and familiarisation with both the weapons and the crowds of the Atrium's residents, the main sponsors of the Tributes and of the Games. Another thing that was slightly worrying Bellatrix. The interviews in front of the population were of vital importance, the girl knew that much, but she was not brilliantly skilled in the art of making friends, nor in getting people to like her. That worried Bellatrix a lot.

Still, tomorrow was another day and the worries could be chained to the back of Bellatrix's mind, them and everything else forgotten as she sunk her head into the pillows and fell into a deep slumber.

Tomorrow, the Games would begin.

A/N: Please review!


	6. Someone New

Chapter Six

A/N: Thanks to dream-on-sunday and nannyandpotocrazy for your great feedback.

As the morning sunlight came streaming through the window, so dawned Bellatrix's realisation of what was to come.

She had, quite unwittingly, fallen asleep beside the huge window lining the wall of her Ministry bedroom. She didn't even remember falling asleep, but she supposed that she wouldn't do. She had been thinking about her sisters, how they'd been coping at home, and the next thing she knew, the sun had been raising over the Ministry.

It was then that she realised with a conflicted sigh what the day would bring. The Tributes' parade.

She would spend all day being dressed up to the nines by a team of stylists, whose only objective was to make her look presentable. There were many easier tasks in the world than getting a District Twelve girl up to the Ministry's astronomical standards in only a matter of hours. Still, the stylists were trained to deal with Slytherin's districts and the looks that came as a result of their poverty, so it should turn out alright. Though she would never have admitted it back home, she was truly excited about being pampered for a day. They had never had such a luxury out in District Twelve. In fact, they were lucky to get new clothes when they outgrew their own, as fabric was so expensive that more often than not, their mother would take to a pair of old curtains with a sewing pattern and make them something new, in the cases of Bellatrix and Regulus. The three younger ones would just have the clothes their elder siblings had outgrown. In fact, poor Narcissa had been so swamped in Andromeda's last dress that her mother had had to cut it again from the fabric.

Bellatrix shook her head to clear it. She was doing it again. Ever since she had arrived, all she had done was reminisce of her family, think of what they would be doing at that moment, how terrified they would be for her. All it had caused the girl was pain. It had to stop.

Pushing all thoughts of her family to the back of her mind, Bellatrix stood up from her position by the window, stretching and massaging the crick from her neck, before showering and dressing for breakfast.

When she walked out to the table, she was horrified to see only two people present at the table. The two that she wished would just disappear off the face of the earth and leave her in peace. Jane Umbridge and Rodolphus Lestrange.

"Good morning, Miss Black." Jane greeted, in a sickeningly cheerful voice. The same voice she had used when she read out Cissy's name at the Reaping. No, stop thinking about her!

"Good morning, Mrs. Umbridge." Bellatrix said in return, with not one hint of cheerfulness in her tone. Rodolphus looked as if he would have spoken in precisely the same tone, had he not been engrossed in a Quidditch annual, reading about how the Holyhead Harpies had topped the league, despite being the only all-female team in it. Meda has that page on the wall in the bedroom. No, stop!

"Now, it's a big day today, you two. Take something off the table and make your way down to the stylists. Off you go!" Jane instructed, clapping her hands together in a way that made Bellatrix almost want to hit her. Still, she obeyed and made her way down to the Stylists' Chamber.

The moment she entered, Bellatrix could tell that the room belonged to someone whose job was to change her. It was relatively dark, with fluorescent lights lining the ceiling, almost like an operating theatre. Not that Bellatrix had ever seen one. Surgery was an unimaginable luxury in District Twelve. If you were ill enough to need it, you would just die.

On the other side of the room, by the side of a silver leather bed-chair, one which looked ominously clinical, stood a strange man. His hair was a vivid shade of turquoise, while his eyes were pure silver. When he finally caught sight of the girl, he flashed her a dazzling smile so white that it could be compared to fresh snow in winter.

"I assume that you must be the District Twelve girl." he said, his voice deep, yet still welcoming.

"Bellatrix Black." she introduced herself, reaching her hand to shake his, as she had seen her mother do many a time when greeting one of the few guests they ever had.

"Pleasure to meet you. My name is Alberto Tattings. I am your stylist for the Games." the man explained, releasing her hand.

"Yeah. I guessed that." Bellatrix mumbled, more than a little sarcastically. Alberto did not seem to notice, instead standing and circling her, taking in every aspect of her skin, face and hair. Bellatrix was, in truth, a little uncomfortable under his gaze, shifting slightly from one foot to the other, but it did not really seem to affect the man, and his smile was just the same after he examined her as it had been before. "Well, it isn't ideal, but we definitely have something to work with here. Let's get you cleaned up a bit, and then we'll begin."

With a melodramatic sigh, Bellatrix walked over to the silver upholstered dental chair and lay down upon it, leaning her head right back on the headrest and closing her eyes in an attempt to dim the blinding white light shining into them. Alberto followed her with a pail of warm water, causing Bellatrix to sigh once more. '_Here we go_.'

The day was an extremely long one, for the Black daughter at least. For hours on end, she had sat and laid down, allowing her mind to wander as her entire body was cleaned up, both by Alberto and a woman that he introduced as his best friend, Jacinta Tattings, who Bellatrix assumed was regularly Rodolphus' stylist.

Finally, the make-over was completed, and as she was guided across to a huge mirror hanging on the wall, which incidentally she had not realised was there, the young woman finally opened her eyes. Only the fact that the mouth of the girl moved along with the gasp that escaped her own lips.

In the mirror, looking back at her, was a beautiful woman. Her once matted brown hair was smoothed out in delicate curls, her skin scrubbed so clean that Bellatrix had almost never seen it so. Her nails were manicured and coated with a layer of black nail varnish, to represent the importance of her name to her. It was truly unbelievable.

"Wow." was the only word that seemed to be able to escape her lips, which was responded to by a giggle from both Alberto and Jacinta.

"Yes, it's quite good, isn't it?" the elder woman responded, with a smile to rival even Alberto's.

"It's brilliant." Bellatrix was forced to admit, though she did so with a satisfied smirk.

"It's good, that I'll admit. But my dear, you have not seen anything yet."

A/N: I know that it's a bit of an abrupt ending, but still… please review!


	7. The Beginning of the End

Chapter Seven

A/N: Thanks to IndigoDragonRider for reviewing.

Tonight was the night. The night that Alberto, Jacinta and their helpers had been working towards for hours and hours on end. Tonight would be Bellatrix's first presentation to the Ministry. Tonight would be the Tribute's Parade.

Bellatrix had hardly slept a wink the previous night, though she had hardly been allowed the time to, what with the fact that she had been working well into the night with Alberto to get her presentable for the next day. Due to the fact that she had spent three years as a huntress in the forest, with very few washing facilities to scrub off the mud, it had taken far longer than it had for Rodolphus to make her look perfect.

Still, as her stylists had been constantly telling her, the overall effect would be stunning. Even so, Bellatrix could not quite see it. All she could see was a District Twelve girl, being turned into someone that she didn't want to be. Into someone that she wasn't.

In truth, the Games was a little more frightening than she had anticipated. It wasn't only trying to kill her, it was trying to change her first, make her into something else, a fighter with no feelings. She could already feel it happening.

'_If I survived these Games,_' Bellatrix questioned herself silently. '_How would I be able to go home? How would I be able to just resume my life, to pick up a knife for dinner after picking up a knife purely to kill? Would my family even recognise me, after what I've become? Because I really don't know if they will._'

Now Bellatrix realised why she had refused to allow herself to think of her family. It only brought her pain. When she thought of them, and all the people at home, she did not think of the years of memories, the happiness they had once shared together. She thought of Tom marrying a young woman from the town and having no one to share his nerves with. She thought of her parents struggling to survive, wandering around, and starving themselves, just so that their children could eat a little rice each day. She thought of poor little Cissy, waking in the night and crying herself to sleep because the only thing to comfort her was the pillow beneath her head. It was agonising for her to consider any of these things.

A knock at the door pulled Bellatrix's thoughts sharply away from her District, and back to the glorified hell she called the Ministry, as a far too cheerful voice sounded from behind the untarnished wood.

"Just half an hour to go now, dear, so it's best to slip your dress on now, then Alberto can deal with your hair."

Despite having heard the accented simper many times before, the urge to throttle Jane Umbridge each time she spoke had hardly lessened for the eldest Black, and that urge was becoming harder to resist with each syllable that exited the woman's lipstick painted mouth. Still, she could manage to control herself. For now, at least.

"Alright." she replied, not bothering to hide the annoyance in her voice at such an early time of the morning. After all, the pair had not seen eye to eye ever since the woman had read out her little sister's name, and both of them knew it very clearly. She knew that Bellatrix despised her, and vice versa, so what was the point in pretending?

Still, seeing that it was best not to overly annoy a woman who may have the power of life or death over her, the young woman still decided to obey, reaching into the wardrobe to find the dress that Umbridge had been speaking of.

All grievances with the Ministry aside, Bellatrix could honestly say that it was the most beautiful dress she had ever seen, let alone been permitted to wear. It was made of a soft material that the woman assumed to be satin, the only soft material that she had ever felt, when she had been shown her mother's wedding dress. It was a vivid shade of crimson, so bright that she had always had to blink a few times before it came into complete focus, and was adorned with amber crystals, which glittered far too brightly to not be enchanted to do so. Flowing straight down her body and pooling on the ground at her feet, it was definately beautiful.

Twenty five minutes later, Bellatrix stood alongside Rodolphus in a room where twelve carriages stood, separated from the rest of the room, awaiting the Tributes to enter them. Each carriage was covered in a glimmering gild, with the logo of each District on the side of their specific carriage. She was wearing the dress Alberto had designed for her, her hair piled up on top of her head in a mass of curls and her lips painted just as red as Umbridge's were. Rodolphus was dressed in a similarly coloured suit, his hair hardly even having had the effort of being brushed. In all honesty, the Black daughter felt cheated at the amount of effort she had gone to, when the man she stood beside looked like he could have risen half an hour ago and rushed to get here on time.

"Right, now remember…" Alberto began. He had been selected to act as their Mentor for the Games ahead, as they had had no Victors from their District. Even though that excuse had been given, the raven haired girl still assumed that it had only been because they did not want District Twelve to have a chance at winning the Games. Not that they had one anyway.

"Yes?" she asked the man.

"You have to make them like you. It could be your only chance to survive."

"But how?" Rodolphus questioned him, his confusion evident.

"It doesn't matter. Just do it." was the only reply they received.

Upon receiving that information, the pair boarded their carriage, only managing to settle into it properly before the wheels began to turn and the cart pulled itself into the stadium, the cheers becoming deafening as the pair rode to their destiny.

A/N: Please review. I know it's been a little while, but still, I'll try and update ASAP, but only if you review!


	8. A True Tribute

Chapter Eight

A/N: Thanks to dream-on-sunday, IndigoDragonRider and LongLiveLongbottom for being brilliant reviewers.

The roar of the crowds had left a pounding in Bellatrix's head, one which still remained when she awoke the next morning.

The event had definately been memorable, that much was for sure, and had been something the young woman was unlikely to forget in a hurry. It was unlike any kind of celebration the brunette had seen in her life, certainly unlike the ones in District Twelve, where a single slice of cake for the birthday child had been the height of luxury. People had arrived in their thousands, dressed up to the nines and screaming their approval, or otherwise in certain Districts' case, to the Tributes going past.

Glancing over to her dress, which still lay resting on the seat of her dressing table, she remembered the previous night, a smile coming to her face at the thought.

When she and Rodolphus had emerged, dressed in their finery, near silence had fallen on the stadium. No one could believe that these two brilliant Tributes had come from the pits of District Twelve, the poorest part of the whole country by far, and yet could look so natural and accustomed to the lifestyle of the Ministry after just one night of living there. In truth, the Tributes could hardly believe it themselves.

Shaking her head in an attempt to clear it a little, Bellatrix sighed. There was no point dwelling on the previous night, not when the Games would truly begin today.

Today was the first day of the training sessions, the first time they would really come into contact with the twenty two other Tributes that they would be up against in the arena. These were the young people that they could end up killing. On the opposite end of the scale, these were the ones by whom they could be killed.

In a way, Bellatrix was excited for the day ahead, as it was the first time she would get to lay her hands on the weapons she would have to fight for in the arena. It would be very interesting to see everyone's techniques with all the different types of ammunition, as the woman herself had only ever used a bow. Weaponry for any use was sparse in District Twelve, which may have been the reason why few citizens of the place had ever escaped the Hunger Games with the title of Victor.

Thinking of her District, and deliberating pushing her thoughts as far from her family as possible, Bellatrix looked down at the uniform she wore. It compiled of a black, short sleeved shirt and close fitting trousers of the same shade, her District number embroidered in bright silver on the green patches adorning her shoulders and breast pocket. Each three Districts had a separate colour to represent them, One, Two and Three having red, Four, Five and Six having blue, Seven, Eight and Nine having yellow and Ten, Eleven and Twelve having green, the colours representing the four Founders of the country.

Now that she thought of it, Bellatrix found that she could not recall a time when the Victor's crown had been draped in emerald green. '_Well, I have never been in the Games. Perhaps it's time for that title to belong to the forests again. Perhaps it's time for that title to be mine.'_

Once again, Bellatrix stopped her thoughts in their tracks. She was thinking like a true Tribute once again, and that was something that should have made her fearful, as it had done just a few nights previously. The problem was that it did not, and that was the very thing that scared her the most.

'_If I can gift myself the title in my mind already, that means I am allowing myself to kill in order to get it. I am allowing myself to take the lives of children, children that could be as young as my darling Narcissa is. Is this fair, for them to have their lives taken for a single crown to bear an emerald? Or should they be allowed to survive on their own, to see if they are strong enough to live a little longer?'_ Bellatrix thought, horrified with herself. The horror dissipated within a moment, as another thought came into her mind, almost piercing with its sharpness.'_Although they would die in any case. I am merely helping them on their way to death.'_

And still, Bellatrix had a feeling that she should not be even entertaining the thought of killing innocent children and young people, but the more she considered it, the more it seemed to be her only option. And the only option was the best option she had.

"Bellatrix?" came a cheerful voice from outside the door. Once again, Bellatrix recognised it to be that of Jane Umbridge, who had done the same several times in the past couple of days. "Your first training session will begin in a few minutes, my dear, so ensure that you are ready by then."

Hardly even waiting until the woman was out of earshot, Bellatrix scoffed at the words spoken to her. '_My dear, indeed.'_ the young woman thought, with a bitterness that had become regular in her mind of late, and was now as familiar to her as her spoken voice. '_The woman can hardly even tolerate me. To call me her dear is just sickeningly pitiful behaviour, especially from an overbearing member of the Ministry__.__'_

"Alright." she answered simply, fearing that any other additions to the word would end up as an additional string of rather vulgar words. She may be quite annoyed by the woman, but she would not be weak enough to show it. It would have to be far worse than this for Bellatrix to do that.

Gathering her breath for a moment, Bellatrix exited the room she had come to see as her own for the past few days, preparing herself for the day ahead.

Today, the true Games would begin.

A/N: Please review!


	9. Bull's Eye

Chapter Nine

A/N: Thanks to my reviewers for the last chapter, TheDarkMistressBellatrix, IndigoDragonRider, stephenmc and Guest.

In a dark room illuminated only by fluorescent lights, twenty four children were assembled.

Along the walls of the darkness, weapons were arranged. Axes, bows, knives and swords were available in abundance, and other useful tools, such as training equipment for camouflage, rationing and survival skills. '_I definately won't need to visit there, then.'_ Bellatrix thought to herself. '_With all the years I've lived in District Twelve, if there is a survival skill I don't know, it isn't worth knowing.'_

Brushing away the need for other skills, once the trainer had finished speaking, the young woman made a bolt for the weapons. Near blinded by the glimmer of a set of throwing knives, Bellatrix threw a small girl, probably thirteen years old or less, to the side, in an attempt to acquire the weapon before her fellow Tribute did. '_She'll probably die at the Cornucopia anyway. There's no point her training for anything, if she won't be alive for more than an hour to use the skills she gained__.__'_

As the cool metal met the warm flesh of her hand, Bellatrix sighed a little. It was strange how right the blade felt held inside her palm, and how powerful she felt holding it. '_This blade could kill any one of them.'_ she thought. '_All I would have to do would be to throw it. Not exactly taxing, is it?__'_

Turning the blade thrice in hand, to examine the detail cut into the blade itself, an insignia that seemed to be that of the Ministry itself, who had, no doubt, provided the weaponry for the Games, Bellatrix considered the splendor of it all. The weaponry that she was accustomed to was basic at best, and most useless at worst, apart from the bows, which would need restringing every few days, a costly tool to own and to use. Not like these things of beauty. These were tools to kill.

Plucking the entire set of knives from their holders on the wall, the Black sister crossed the room in a few long strides, coming face to face with a magical target, bobbing and weaving across the area where a few others were gathered in front, obviously also wishing to make use of the facilities.

"Get lost!" the girl exclaimed, waving dismissively in the direction of the group. Whether it was due to the harsh tone in her voice or to the knife she still clutched in it, she did not quite know which, the children dispersed, scurrying away like rats in the pouring rain, a common sight back home in District Twelve.

Drawing her attention back to the task at hand, the young woman turned the knife once again in her hand. It seemed as though it would fly well and would land rather close to its target. Now, it all rested on her as to whether this would be the case.

Taking three steps forwards, the girl drew back the hand in which the blade rested, her shoulder making contact with her cheek as she prepared herself for the throw that would determine her strength as a competitor, for the rest of the Tributes anyway.

She closed her eyes as the blade left her hand, though she knew that this may have been a reckless decision. After all, the knives were designed to kill, so being unable to see the path they would take could be lethal for anyone standing nearby. It was quite a relief when she heard the thump of the wood as the metal became lodged in the centre of it, as she knew that it had not injured anyone on its way.

'_Why should I care?'_ Bellatrix asked herself, as she considered the thoughts that had passed through her mind. '_They're all going to die anyway, when I win, so whether they die sooner or later is of little consequence, really? Especially to me.__'_

As her eyelids lifted once again, Bellatrix grinned smugly, as she saw the knife was lodged directly in the centre of the bull's eye. She was not even surprised. As a consequence of the years spent hunting for food, the grip of the Ministry being so firm, even on the outlying Districts of Salazar Slytherin, that any kind of stealing was punishable with the kiss of a Dementor, her aim was extremely precise. Though she had been very practiced with a bow, the young woman had found that blades were not so different.

'_I wonder if they will have Dementors in the Arena.'_ she wondered, then shuddered at the thought. The kiss of a Dementor, a hefty sentence passed by the Ministry, was a fate far worse than even death could be. A few seconds under a Dementor's lips and the victim would be just a shell, their mind and spirit stolen, but their heart continuing to beat even so. Bellatrix's family had known no one who had been victim to such a fate. She did not wish to be the first.

Over the next hour, Bellatrix did nothing but throw the knives at the target, hitting the bull's eye every time, no matter how tired and heavy her arms became. Around her, a small group of Tributes had gathered, watching closely each move she made, as if to try and determine what the secret was behind the extraordinary woman's success. Among the crowd was Rodolphus, looking on in both wonder and jealousy at his District partner, who paid little attention to any of the group, let alone to him.

Little did he know that, out of the corner of her eye, Bellatrix had been watching the dark haired man every single moment since he had arrived in the group of Tributes, and she had noticed the very clear fact that he was jealous of her skill and popularity. But what the eldest Black sister had not noticed was the other emotion running through the Lestrange boy's gaze.

Love.

A/N: Here we go! The love triangle has begun. Please review!


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